Area restaurants temporarily shut down by health departments for July 31

These area restaurants were shut down temporarily because of health code violations. They have since been re-inspected and re-opened.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture cited these operations:

▪ Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar 11500 W. 63rd St., Shawnee, had 4 priority violations during a July 23 licensing inspection. It was temporarily closed due to 32 live roaches near storage shelving, on the wall and side of the walk-in cooler.

It had 6 dead roaches but no priority violations during a re-inspection on July 24 and was allowed to reopen.

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In a statement, Tom Linafelt, spokesman for DineEquity, Inc./Applebee’s, said: “The issue was addressed and upon re-inspection the restaurant reopened in less than 24 hours.”

▪ Chili’s Grill & Bar, 1710 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, Kan., had 3 priority violations during a July 10 inspection following a complaint. It was temporarily shut down because it had no hot water. The person in charge said the water heater had been broken for “two days or so” and he was told by corporate to remain open and operate without hot water.

It also was reinspected on July 10, had no priority violations and allowed to reopen.

In a statement, Tom Kochis, area director for Chili’s, said: “We were having trouble with our hot water heater and a plumber was on site during the time when the health dept showed up -- and we believed it was going to be resolved promptly. When it was determined this was not temporary and that we needed a new hot water heater, we closed for a few hours until this was replaced with a new water heater. The health department has since been back for a re-inspection and all is in good order.”

▪ G&S Convenience Store, 8537 State Ave., Kansas City, Kan., had 11 priority violations during a July 14 routine inspection, including no hot water, so the store was not allowed to sell food items, only tobacco and gas.

It also was reinspected on July 14 , it had fixed the hot water problem, and had 1 priority violation for no soap at the hand-sink and was allowed to serve food again.

It had 7 priority violations during a follow-up inspection on July 24 inspection.

Store officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

▪ Old Town Pizza, 14850 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, had 11 priority violations during a July 6 inspection for an expired license. It was temporarily closed when at least a dozen live roaches were found behind the make table.

In a statement, the owners said: “Old Town is under new ownership and management. Deficiencies noted were inherited and are contrary to policies of OTP as stated in both employee handbook and general policies on safe food handling practices. Rest assured that all deficiencies have been corrected above and beyond expectations and a new experienced manager has taken over operational management. We are committed to provide safe and utmost quality product to our guest and to continually strive to improve them in the future. The improvements are extremely apparent and noticed as soon as you entered the restaurant. We look forward to being a staple in the community for excellence in quality and service.”

▪ Amore Dolci Bakery, 3709 Southwest Trafficway, had 2 critical violations during a July 17 routine inspection and was temporarily shut down due to a 3-compartment sink back-up.

It has no critical violations during a July 20 follow-up inspection and was allowed to reopen.

“It was a slow sink and we had it cleaned out. We are taking measures to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future,” said Mallory Omundson, owner.

▪ Coffee Cake KC, mobile unit, 30 W. Pershing Road, had 1 critical violation when cold holding equipment and foods were out of temperature during a June 27 routine inspection.

It had no critical violations during a re-inspection on July 2 and was allowed to reopen.

“We had installed a new refrigerator and it had malfunctioned and it is now repaired,” said Kim Niebaum, owner.

▪ Hong Kong Supermarket, 6421 E. Truman Road, had 1 critical violation during a June 26 routine inspection and was temporarily shut down when it was operating without electricity due to a power outage (food discarded).

It had no critical violations during a June 30 follow-up inspection and was allowed to reopen.

“We had to wait for the health department to come back on a weekday,” said Huong Nguyen, owner.

▪ Twisted Asian, mobile unit, 508 Buena Vista Drive, Belton, had 4 critical violations during a June 27 routine inspection and was temporarily shut down when cold holding foods were out of temperature (chicken and shrimp discarded).

It had no critical violations during a July 7 follow-up inspection and was allowed to reopen.